Buffer circuits and methods

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a circuit includes a first transistor having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal where the first transistor is a first device type. The control terminal of the first transistor receives an input signal. The circuit also includes a second transistor having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal where the second transistor is a second device type. The control terminal of the second transistor is coupled to the second terminal of the first transistor. A voltage shift circuit has an input coupled to the first terminal of the first transistor and an output coupled to the first terminal of the second transistor and a voltage between the input of the voltage shift circuit and an output of the voltage shift circuit increases as a current from the output of the voltage shift circuit increases.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to electronic circuits and methods, andin particular, to buffer circuits and methods.

Buffer circuits are used widely in a variety of electronic circuitapplications. Buffer circuits are often used to allow differentfunctional circuits to work together to perform signal processing tasks.For example, FIG. 1A illustrates an application of a buffer circuit 102.In this example, a signal Vin is amplified by an amplifier 101.Amplifier may be a high gain amplifier that increases a voltageamplitude of Vin, but has a low output current and/or a constrainedoutput voltage range. It may be desirable to provide the amplifiedversion of Vin to another processing circuit 103, referred to here as aload circuit. Load circuit 103 may require a larger input current orvoltage range for proper operation than amplifier 101 is capable ofproducing. Accordingly, in this example, a buffer circuit 103 may bereceive the amplified version of Vin and generate a signal with enoughcurrent and across a wide enough voltage range to meet the requirementsof load circuit 103. Different buffer circuits may increase current,voltage, or both, for example, to allow different functional circuits toprocess signals in a signal path.

One example use of a buffer circuit is in a low drop out (LDO)regulator. A low drop out (LDO) regulator is a voltage regulator thatcan operate with a very small input-output differential voltage. FIG. 1Bshows an example LDO. The LDO includes a pass transistor 100, an erroramplifier 104, buffer circuit 110, a voltage divider (e.g., resistors R1and R2), and an external load 106. Resistors R1 and R2 divide outputvoltage Vout to produce a divided output voltage Vo_div. Vo_div iscoupled to one input of error amplifier 104. A second input of erroramplifier 104 receives a reference voltage, Vref. Error amplifier 104compares the divided output voltage Vo_div to reference voltage Vref andproduces an error signal that may be coupled to pass transistor 100. IfVout increases and causes the divided output voltage to increase abovethe reference voltage, the error signal drives the pass transistor toreduce current into the load and reduce Vout. If Vout decreases andcauses the divided output voltage to fall below the reference voltage,the error signal drives the pass transistor to increase current into theload and increase Vout. Accordingly, the LDO operates to maintain aconstant output voltage Vout over changing current demands of the load106.

In many application it would be desirable to have a buffer circuit witha wide output range that can drive an input of a subsequent circuitstage to a low voltage for a given range of voltage inputs, for example.For instance, referring to FIG. 1B, a buffer circuit 110 may be usedbetween error amplifier 104 and pass transistor 100 to increase thedrive strength to the pass transistor. However, if buffer circuit 110has a constrained output voltage range, the output of the buffer circuitmay not be able to drive the input of the pass transistor across a rangeof voltages for optimum performance. In particular, large currents intoload 106 may require a buffer circuit in an LDO application to drive theinput of the pass transistor close to ground. Accordingly, it would beadvantageous to have wide output range buffer circuits and methods withimproved output ranges in LDO and many other applications.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure pertains to buffer circuits and methods. In oneembodiment, a buffer circuit includes a voltage shift circuit to extendan output voltage range of the buffer circuit for a given input voltagerange. A voltage drop across the voltage shift circuit may change basedon a current from the voltage shift circuit.

In one embodiment, a buffer circuit with a voltage shift circuit is usedto drive the pass transistor of a low dropout regulator (LDO) to improvethe drive of a pass transistor.

In one embodiment, a current proportional to an output current of thepass transistor is coupled to the buffer to change the voltage acrossthe voltage shift circuit based on the regulator output current.

In one embodiment, a circuit includes a first transistor having acontrol terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal where thefirst transistor is a first device type. The control terminal of thefirst transistor receives an input signal. The circuit also includes asecond transistor having a control terminal, a first terminal, and asecond terminal where the second transistor is a second device type. Thecontrol terminal of the second transistor is coupled to the secondterminal of the first transistor. A voltage shift circuit has an inputcoupled to the first terminal of the first transistor and an outputcoupled to the first terminal of the second transistor and a voltagebetween the input of the voltage shift circuit and an output of thevoltage shift circuit increases as a current from the output of thevoltage shift circuit increases.

The following detailed description and accompanying drawings provide abetter understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows an example application of a buffer circuit.

FIG. 1B shows an example application of a buffer circuit in an LDO.

FIG. 2A shows an example buffer circuit that includes a voltage shiftcircuit according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2B shows an example buffer circuit in an LDO application accordingto one embodiment.

FIGS. 3A-B illustrate the operating principle of buffer circuit andvoltage shifter for low LDO load current.

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate the operating principle of buffer circuit andvoltage shifter for high LDO load current.

FIG. 5A shows an example of a voltage shift circuit in a buffer circuitaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 5B shows another example of a voltage shift circuit in a buffercircuit according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show graphs illustrating the buffer output voltage andload current in relation to buffer input voltage for one example buffercircuit according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows another example of a buffer circuit in an LDO applicationaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 9 depicts a simplified flowchart of another method according to oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure pertains to buffer circuits. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous examples and specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe present disclosure. It will be evident, however, to one skilled inthe art that the present disclosure as expressed in the claims mayinclude some or all of the features in these examples alone or incombination with other features described below, and may further includemodifications and equivalents of the features and concepts describedherein.

Features and advantages of the present disclosure include buffercircuits having improved drive capability. For example, in oneembodiment, a buffer circuit includes voltage shift that increases ascurrent increases to extend an output voltage range of the buffer. FIG.2A shows an example buffer circuit that includes a voltage shift circuitaccording to one embodiment. The buffer circuit may include a firsttransistor M1 having a control terminal to receive an input signal (herea voltage signal, Buffer Vin), a first terminal coupled to a biascurrent I1, and a second terminal coupled to a bias current I2, forexample. In this example, transistor M1 is an MOS (PMOS in particular)transistor, but in other embodiments other device types may be used. Asecond transistor Q1 includes a control terminal coupled to the drainterminal of M1, a first terminal coupled to an output of the buffercircuit, and a second terminal coupled to reference voltage (e.g.,ground). In this example, transistor Q1 is a bipolar (NPN in particular)transistor, but in other embodiments other device types may be used. Avoltage shift circuit 202 (also referred to as a “voltage shifter”) hasa first terminal coupled to the first terminal of transistor M1 and asecond terminal coupled to the output of the buffer circuit and to thefirst terminal of transistor Q1. A voltage across the terminals ofvoltage shift circuit 202 may increase as current from the output of thevoltage shift circuit increases. For instance, if the output current ofthe buffer increases, the voltage drop across the voltage shift circuitmay increase, thereby allowing the output of the buffer circuit toachieve lower output voltages to drive subsequent stages. Furtherdetails of the operation and advantages of the buffer circuit in FIG. 2Aare set forth in more detail below.

One advantageous application of the buffer circuit in FIG. 2A is in anLDO. FIG. 2B shows an example buffer circuit in an LDO applicationaccording to one embodiment. The LDO may receive an input voltage Vinand produce a regulated output voltage “LDO Vout,” for example. Exampleapplications of such an LDO may include use in a power management moduleof a portable device. In operation, buffer circuit 200 receives an inputvoltage “Buffer Vin” (e.g., from an error amplifier, not shown). Buffercircuit 200 outputs a buffer output voltage Buffer Vout to a controlterminal of a pass transistor M_(P) to regulate the output voltage LDOVout of the LDO. As shown in buffer circuit 200, transistor M1 andtransistor Q₁ are configured as was shown in FIG. 2A, which is sometimesreferred to as a “super source follower.” Buffer circuit 200 includesvoltage shift circuit 202 between node G (here, the source of M1) andthe node Buffer Vout (here, the collector of Q1). Voltage shift circuit202 may adaptively shift the voltage at node Buffer Vout based on loadcurrent, which in one example implementation may include an LDO outputcurrent as described further below.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include buffer circuits comprisingvoltage shift circuits that create a voltage shift in the bufferproportional to a current. Embodiments of a voltage shifting buffer areillustrated herein by a “super source follower” buffer, but can begeneralized to other kinds of buffer circuits, for example. In theexample shown in FIG. 2B, an AC drain current in transistor M1 ismultiplied by the current gain (or “beta”) of Q1, which effectivelyboosts the transconductance (gm) of the buffer circuit by a factor ofbeta. When buffer Vin goes low, M1 drives current into Q1, current fromQ1 increases, and the increased current causes the voltage acrossvoltage shift circuit 202 to increase. The increased voltage drop acrossvoltage shift circuit 202 allows the output voltage of the buffer,“Buffer Vout,” to take on lower values closer to ground without draggingthe drain of M1 low as well. This may have advantages in someapplications as will be described in more detail below.

In this example, buffer circuit 200 receives bias currents I1 and I2,which may be fixed at constant bias current values. Additionally, in oneembodiment, buffer circuit 200 may receive bias current proportional tothe LDO load current I_(D) (e.g., current αI_(LOAD), or currentβI_(LOAD), or both). Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosureinclude coupling a current proportional to an LDO load current (e.g., an“adaptive bias current”) to a voltage shift circuit in a buffer toimprove the drive capability of the buffer circuit.

For example, FIG. 2B shows adaptive bias currents related to LDO loadcurrent as current sources αI_(LOAD) (current source) and/or βI_(LoAD)(current sink). Bias current sources I1 and I2 provide a currentrequired for operation of the buffer circuit and may be fixed. However,the adaptive bias current through current sources αI_(LOAD) and/orβI_(LOAD) may be proportional to the load current through transistorM_(P) (current I_(D)). In other embodiments a single combined sourcewith a constant current component and a component related to the outputload current may be used. The circuit in FIG. 2B is simplified in thatthe circuit used to generate the adaptive bias currents from the LDOoutput has been omitted. Various implementations of adaptive biascurrent circuits to produce currents related to an LDO output currentmay be appreciated.

The LDO may operate in high output current states, low output currentstates, or intermediate output current states based on the requirementsof a load. The voltage across voltage shift circuit 202 is different inhigh current states and low current states. For high LDO outputcurrents, the voltage at node Buffer Vout should be sufficiently low toturn on transistor M_(P) as needed. The output of the buffer is coupledto the gate of the pass transistor M_(P). Thus, the voltage at nodeBuffer Vout is the gate voltage for transistor M_(P). Accordingly,having a lower voltage at node Buffer Vout allows transistor M_(P) toturn on more strongly. As the load current increases through transistorM_(P), the adaptive bias current through voltage shift circuit 202 alsoincreases, which provides a greater voltage drop across voltage shiftcircuit 202 to reduce Buffer Vout and drive larger currents throughtransistor M_(P). Thus, the voltage drop across voltage shift circuit202 shifts the voltage at the node Buffer Vout down to provide animproved overdrive voltage to the pass transistor M_(p).

For smaller LDO output currents, the adaptive bias current throughvoltage shift circuit 202 is smaller and voltage shift circuit 202provides a smaller voltage shift to the voltage at the node Buffer Vout.For example, as the adaptive bias current goes down, the voltage acrossvoltage shift circuit 202 decreases. To turn off transistor M_(P), thegate to source voltage of transistor M_(P) should be reduced below theturn on voltage of transistor M_(P). Because the voltage drop acrossvoltage shift circuit 202 is small at low load currents, voltage shiftcircuit 202 does not significantly influence the highest buffer outputvoltage at node Buffer Vout that can be achieved. In other words, withthe load current at or near 0 mA, the voltage drop across voltage shiftcircuit 202 is not influenced by the load current. The current throughcurrent sources I1 and I2 provides a small voltage drop across voltageshift circuit 202, but this voltage drop may not influence the voltageat node Buffer Vout significantly, and transistor M_(P) can be turnedoff.

Accordingly, voltage shift circuit 202 provides a lower minimum outputvoltage for Buffer Vout at the buffer output node with minimal change inthe maximum output voltage. This allows use of a smaller pass transistorsize for transistor M_(P), which leads to a smaller overall LDO siliconarea and lower cost. Also, there may be little or no change to thebuffer no-load quiescent currents I1 and I2.

FIGS. 3A-B illustrate the operating principle of buffer circuit andvoltage shifter for low load current. For comparison purposes, FIG. 3Adescribes an approach without using voltage shifter 202 and FIG. 3Bdescribes the operating principle using voltage shifter 202.

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the LDO output current I_(D) (i.e., current into aload) is small (e.g., at or near 0 uA) and thus the load-dependentadaptive bias current α_(LOAD) is small. In this case, the buffer outputvoltage Buffer Vout is high to produce a low LDO output current (e.g.,LDO load current I_(D)=0 mA). That is, the high voltage at node BufferVout is needed to turn off transistor M_(P).

Referring to FIG. 3A, in the buffer circuit without the voltage shiftcircuit, the source voltage of the input transistor M1 is high, and thegate voltage of transistor M1 is also high. For example, buffer circuitinput and output voltages may be Buffer Vin=1.423V and BufferVout=1.872V. In this example, the high buffer output voltage can turnoff transistor M_(P) for both circuit configurations shown in FIGS. 3Aand 3B.

Buffer input voltage Buffer Vin generates a current I_(C) in Q1. In FIG.3B, the small current I_(C) is through voltage shifter 202 andintroduces a small voltage drop across voltage shifter 202. In thiscase, the adaptive bias current αI_(LOAD) is low and I_(C) is low. Thus,the voltage drop across voltage shifter 202 is based on the biascurrents through current sources I1 and I2. To achieve a desired bufferoutput voltage of Buffer Vout=1.872V under light load conditions, thesource voltage of input transistor M1 is V_(S)=2.133V. After steppingdown by a gate to source voltage of the buffer input transistor M1, thegate voltage of transistor M1 is still not very high at BufferVin=1.666V. Thus, in this example, the buffer input voltage attransistor M1 required to achieve the desired buffer output voltage toturn off the pass transistor M_(P) can be achieved with only a slightincrease of the output voltage range of the error amplifier. That is,the output of the error amplifier may have to provide only a slightlyhigher input voltage to the buffer circuit (1.666V compared to 1.423V).

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate the operating principle of buffer circuit andvoltage shifter for high load current. For comparison purposes, FIG. 4Ashows a buffer circuit without using voltage shift circuit 202 and FIG.4B shows the operating principle when using voltage shift circuit 202.When the load current I_(D) is large, the load-dependent adaptive biascurrent is also large. In this case, the buffer output voltage BufferVout has to be low to drive pass transistor Mp to supply a high loadcurrent (e.g., LDO load current I_(D)=300 mA). The low voltage at nodeBuffer Vout turns on transistor M_(P) to supply the high load current.

In FIG. 4A, in a buffer circuit without a voltage shift circuit, thesource voltage of input transistor M1 is very low due to a low bufferinput voltage of Buffer Vin=0.391V at the gate of transistor M1 requiredto produce the desired output current. This buffer input voltage resultsin a buffer output voltage at Buffer Vout=1.046V, which is low enough toturn on pass transistor M_(P) and supply a high LDO output current ofID=300 mA.

In FIG. 4B, voltage shifter 202 introduces a voltage drop across itbased on the large adaptive bias current from current source αI_(LOAD)that is proportional to the load current. To achieve the same bufferoutput voltage Buffer Vout=1.046V to drive the pass transistor, a sourcevoltage V_(S) of transistor M1 is V_(S)=1.653V. Thus, to achieve thehigher load current, voltage shifter 202 introduces a voltage drop of0.607V: 1.653V−1.046V=0.607V.

Even though the voltage at node Buffer Vout is the same in each circuit,the gate voltage of transistor M1 is higher using a voltage shiftcircuit (e.g., Buffer Vin=1.01V). The source voltage V_(S) can be higherbecause voltage shifter 202 introduces the voltage drop. Having a higherbuffer input voltage reduces the required output voltage range of theerror amplifier. For example, in FIG. 3B, the buffer input voltageBuffer Vin was 1.666V and in FIG. 4B, the buffer input voltage BufferVin is 1.01V. This provides an input range of 1.01V−1.666V (a differenceof 0.656V). In contrast, the circuit without a voltage shift in FIG. 3Ahas a buffer input voltage Buffer Vin of 0.391V and the circuit in FIG.4A has a buffer input voltage Buffer Vin of 1.423V. The input range ofthe circuit without the voltage shift is thus 1.423V−0.391V=1.032V.Thus, the error amplifier output needs to have a range of 1.032 volts ifa voltage shift is not used. However, the range needed for the erroramplifier using voltage shifter 202 is much less at 0.656V.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show different examples of voltage shift circuitsaccording to two example embodiments.

In FIG. 5A, voltage shift circuit 502A includes a resistor R_(B)according to one embodiment. When current flows through resistor R_(B),a voltage drop occurs across the resistor. This achieves a voltage shiftat node Buffer Vout. For example, when the current through Q1 increases(e.g., due to a decrease in Buffer Vin), the voltage across resistorR_(B) increases. That is, the voltage drop across the resistor R_(B) isproportional to the current through Q1 and the resistance of resistorR_(B). Also, when the current through Q1 is low (e.g., due to anincrease in Buffer Vin), the voltage drop across resistor R_(B) isreduced. That is, the lower current provides a lower voltage drop acrossthe resistor R_(B).

FIG. 5B uses a transistor M2 in voltage shift circuit 502B according toone embodiment. In this case, when current flows through transistor M2,the gate-source voltage V_(GS) across transistor M2 shifts the voltageat Buffer Vout. In particular, as the buffer input voltage Buffer Vindecreases, current through Q1 increases and the gate to source voltageof M2 (Vgs2) increases. Increasing current through Q1 and increasingVgs2 of M2, in turn, increases the current through M2 and the drain tosource voltage drop (Vds2) across M2. Accordingly, as the current at thesource output terminal of M2 increases, M2 increases the voltage shift.Conversely, as the buffer input voltage Buffer Vin increases, thereverse effects occur, with current through Q1 decreasing, Vgs2 of M2decreasing, and Vds2 of M2 decreasing. Accordingly, as the current atthe source output terminal of M2 decreases, M2 decreases the voltageshift. In some example implementations, M2 may be a native MOStransistor which may have one or more of the following properties: lowor even negative threshold voltage, no channel doping, and/or formationin a substrate, for example.

Using a transistor, such as an NMOS transistor shown in FIG. 5B, toreplace the resistor shown in FIG. 5A, may also reduce the outputimpedance (e.g., compared to using resistor R_(B)) and reduce quiescentpower consumption caused by bias currents through resistor R_(B). Forexample, transistor M2 has a drain current dependent impedance of 1/gm,which is less than the impedance of using a fixed resistor R_(B)especially in high load current conditions. Although the implementationsshown above illustrate voltage shift circuit using a resistor or atransistor, voltage shift circuits may use different implementations toshift the voltage based on current.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show graphs illustrating buffer output voltage and loadcurrent in relation to buffer input voltage for one example buffercircuit in an LDO according to one embodiment. FIG. 6A shows a graph 600plotting the relationship of the buffer output voltage to the bufferinput voltage for a particular circuit implementation. A line 602 showsthe relationship without using voltage shift circuit and a line 604shows the relationship when using a voltage shift circuit. Without avoltage shift circuit, the lowest buffer output voltage that can beachieved is around 850 mV for the lowest buffer input voltage. However,using voltage shift circuit, a wider range of buffer output voltages canbe achieved for a given range of buffer input voltages. In this exampleimplementation, the effective minimum output voltage is extended using avoltage shift.

Referring to FIG. 6B, a graph 606 shows the increased LDO drivingcapability provided by a buffer circuit including a voltage shiftcircuit. In graph 606, a line 607 shows the relationship between LDOoutput current to buffer input voltage without using a voltage shiftcircuit and a line 608 shows the relationship between the LDO outputcurrent and the buffer input voltage using voltage shift circuit. Usingthe buffer input voltage of 0.391V as shown in FIG. 4A, the load currentI_(D) of the buffer without the voltage shift circuit is 300 mA as shownat 610. However, using the same input voltage of 0.391 mV, using avoltage shift circuit, the output current of the LDO goes up to 778 mAas shown at 612. Thus, voltage shift circuit boosts the LDO drivingcapability by more than double.

As mentioned above, the area of pass transistor M_(P) can be reducedusing voltage shift circuits according to some embodiments. For oneexample LDO buffer circuit without a voltage shift circuit, the heightof pass transistor M_(P) may be 279 um. In one embodiment, using avoltage shift circuit, the height of the pass transistor M_(P) may bereduced from 279 um to 182 um. This reduces the area needed for the passtransistor M_(P) by 34%, for example. As the number of LDOs included ina chip increases, the area savings may become significant.

FIG. 7 shows another example of a buffer circuit in an LDO applicationaccording to one embodiment. The LDO includes an error amplifier (e.g.,transistors M_(1A-B), M_(2A-B), M_(3A-B), M_(10A-B), and M_(11A-B)), abuffer circuit 701 including a voltage shift circuit 702, an outputtransistor (e.g., pass transistor M_(P)), an LDO output current sensetransistor (e.g., M_(SEN1)), and an adaptive bias circuit (transistorsM_(6B-D), M_(8A-B), and M_(9A-B)) to couple a current proportional tothe LDO output current to buffer circuit 701. The error amplifiercompares a reference voltage, Vref, to a feedback voltage, Vfb,corresponding to the LDO output voltage, LDO Vout. Vfb may be coupledfrom LDO Vout through a resistor divider to an input of the erroramplifier, for example. The output of the error amplifier at node D isan error voltage representing the differential voltage between the LDOoutput voltage LDO Vout and the reference voltage. The adaptive biascircuit provides an adaptive bias current αI_(LOAD) to buffer 701 thatis proportional to the load current I_(LOAD) out of the node LDO Voutinto an external load and sourced by transistor M_(P).

Buffer 701 receives the error voltage (e.g., Buffer Vin) from the erroramplifier and drives the pass transistor M_(P) to maintain a constantoutput voltage LDO Vout. Buffer 701 may include a P channel MOSFET(PMOS) transistor M_(5A) and an N-channel BJT (NPN) transistor Q₁. Asmentioned above, the configuration of M_(5A) and Q₁ is sometimesreferred to as a “super source follower” configuration. The bufferoutput (e.g., node Buffer Vout) is coupled to a gate of pass transistorM_(P) to drive the pass transistor of the LDO.

To minimize the size of transistor M_(P) while maximizing the possibleload current of the LDO, node G at the source of transistor M_(5A) hasto go as low as possible to drive the gate voltage on transistor M_(P).In one example, the minimum voltage at node G may be set by the minimumdrain to source voltage V_(DSAT) of transistor M_(2B) and transistorM_(3B) (e.g., ˜150 mV each at typical conditions) and the gate sourcevoltage V_(GS) of transistor M_(5A) (e.g., ˜1V at typical conditions).Thus, there is a limit as to how low the voltage at node G can go. Asdiscussed above, during high load current conditions, it is desirable toreduce Buffer Vout to adequately turn on transistor M_(P) However, dueto the gate source voltage of V_(GS) of transistor M_(5A) and thedrain-source voltages of transistor M_(2B) and transistor M_(3B), theminimum voltage at node Buffer Vout is limited. Thus, to provide thehigh load current, embodiments of the present disclosure may use voltageshifter 702 to extend the range of Buffer Vout for a given range ofBuffer Vin, which allows the LDO to be designed with a smallertransistor size for transistor Mp. The smaller size decreases thesilicon cost of the LDO. As mentioned above, in this example, withoutvoltage shifter 702, the voltage at node Buffer Vout is equal to themaximum drain source voltage V_(DSAT) of transistor M_(2B) andtransistor M_(3B) (e.g., ˜150 mV each at typical conditions) and thegate source voltage V_(GS) of transistor M_(5A) (e.g., ˜1V at typicalconditions). However, including voltage shifter 702, the voltage at nodeBuffer Vout becomes: V_(DSAT) of transistor M_(2B) and transistor M_(3B)plus the gate to source voltage, V_(GS), of transistor M_(5A) minus thevoltage drop across voltage shifter 702.

FIG. 8 depicts a simplified flowchart 800 of a method for using voltageshifter according to one embodiment. In this example, the LDO transitsfrom high load current to low load current. At 802, an error amplifierincreases the buffer input voltage Buffer Vin. At 804, as the bufferinput voltage increases and the load current decreases, the voltageshift decreases. A bias current proportional to the load current andcoupled to voltage shifter may also decrease. This causes the bufferoutput voltage Buffer Vout to increase. At 806, due to the buffer outputvoltage increasing, the pass transistor M_(P) starts to turn off and theload current decreases.

FIG. 9 depicts a simplified flowchart 900 of another method for usingvoltage shifter according to one embodiment. In this example, the LDOtransits from the low load current to high load current. At 902, anerror amplifier decreases the buffer input voltage Buffer Vin. At 904,as the buffer input voltage decreases and the load current increases,the voltage shift increases. A bias current proportional to the loadcurrent and coupled to voltage shifter may also increase. At 806, due tothe buffer output voltage decreasing, the pass transistor M_(P) startsto turn on and the load current increases.

Although that buffer circuit input transistor (e.g., M1 above) is shownas a PMOS transistor and transistor Q₁ is shown as an NPN transistor, itwill be recognized that other implementations of transistors may beappreciated. For example, other transistor device types may be used. Forexample, transistor M1 may be a transistor of a first device type (e.g.,polarity) and transistor Q₁ may be a second transistor of a seconddevice type (e.g., opposite polarity). The term device type includesdifferent devices (MOS and NPN) or polarity (P-type and N-type). In oneexample, transistor M1 and transistor Q₁ may also be the same devicetype (e.g., MOS devices), but different polarity.

The above description illustrates various embodiments of the presentdisclosure along with examples of how aspects of the particularembodiments may be implemented. The above examples should not be deemedto be the only embodiments, and are presented to illustrate theflexibility and advantages of the particular embodiments as defined bythe following claims. Based on the above disclosure and the followingclaims, other arrangements, embodiments, implementations and equivalentsmay be employed without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure as defined by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A circuit comprising: a first transistor having acontrol terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal and being afirst polarity, wherein the control terminal of the first transistorreceives an input signal; a second transistor having a control terminal,a first terminal, and a second terminal and being a second polarity,wherein the control terminal of the second transistor is coupled to thesecond terminal of the first transistor; and a voltage shift circuithaving first terminal coupled to the first terminal of the firsttransistor and a second terminal coupled to the first terminal of thesecond transistor, wherein a voltage between the first terminal of thevoltage shift circuit and the second terminal of the voltage shiftcircuit increases as a current from the second terminal of the voltageshift circuit increases.
 2. The circuit of claim 1, wherein: the firsttransistor comprises a MOS transistor having a gate, a source, and adrain, wherein the gate of the first transistor receives the inputsignal; the second transistor comprises a bipolar transistor having abase, an emitter, and a collector, wherein the base of the bipolartransistor is coupled to the drain of MOS transistor; and the firstterminal of the voltage shift circuit is coupled to the source of thefirst MOS transistor and the second terminal of the voltage shiftcircuit is coupled to the collector of the bipolar transistor.
 3. Thecircuit of claim 1, wherein the voltage shift circuit comprises aresistor having a first terminal coupled to the first terminal of thefirst transistor and a second terminal coupled to the first terminal ofthe second transistor.
 4. The circuit of claim 3, wherein: the firsttransistor comprises a MOS transistor having a gate, a source, and adrain, wherein the gate of the first transistor receives the inputsignal; the second transistor comprises a bipolar transistor having abase, an emitter, and a collector, wherein the base of the bipolartransistor is coupled to the drain of MOS transistor; and the firstterminal of the resistor is coupled to the source of the MOS transistorand the second terminal of the third transistor is coupled to thecollector of the bipolar transistor.
 5. The circuit of claim 1, whereinthe voltage shift circuit comprises a third transistor having a controlterminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, wherein the controlterminal of the third transistor is coupled to the control terminal ofthe first transistor, the first terminal of the third transistor iscoupled to the first terminal of the first transistor, and the secondterminal of the third transistor is coupled to the first terminal of thesecond transistor.
 6. The circuit of claim 5, wherein: the firsttransistor comprises a MOS transistor having a gate, a source, and adrain, wherein the gate of the first transistor receives the inputsignal; the second transistor comprises a bipolar transistor having abase, an emitter, and a collector, wherein the base of the bipolartransistor is coupled to the drain of MOS transistor; and the firstterminal of the third transistor is coupled to the source of the MOStransistor and the second terminal of the third transistor is coupled tothe collector of the bipolar transistor.
 7. The circuit of claim 5,wherein the third transistor is a native MOS transistor.
 8. The circuitof claim 1, further comprising: a pass transistor of a regulator havinga control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, wherein thecontrol terminal is coupled to the first terminal of the secondtransistor, wherein the second terminal of the voltage shift circuitdrives the control terminal of the pass transistor of the regulator toregulate an output voltage at the second terminal of the passtransistor.
 9. The circuit of claim 8, further comprising an adaptivebias current source generating a current to the voltage shift circuitproportional to a current through the second terminal of the passtransistor.
 10. The circuit of claim 8, further comprising an erroramplifier configured to compare an output voltage of the regulator to areference voltage and output an error voltage as the input signal. 11.The circuit of claim 1, wherein: the voltage between the first terminalof the voltage shift circuit and the second terminal of the voltageshift circuit increases as the current through the voltage shift circuitincreases, and the voltage between the first terminal of the voltageshift circuit and the second terminal of the voltage shift circuitdecreases as the current through the voltage shift circuit decreases.12. A method comprising: receiving an input signal at the controlterminal of the first transistor, the first transistor having a controlterminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal and being a firstpolarity; coupling a current from the second terminal of the firsttransistor to a control terminal of a second transistor, the secondtransistor having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a secondterminal and being a second polarity; generating a current in a voltageshift circuit, the voltage shift circuit having a first terminal coupledto the first terminal of the first transistor and a second terminalcoupled to the first terminal of the second transistor, and shifting avoltage at the first terminal of the first transistor between the firstterminal of the voltage shift circuit and the second terminal of thevoltage shift circuit, wherein a voltage at the second terminal of thevoltage shift circuit decreases as a current from the output of thevoltage shift circuit increases.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein thevoltage shift circuit comprises a resistor.
 14. The method of claim 12,wherein the voltage shift circuit comprises a third transistor having acontrol terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, wherein thecontrol terminal of the third transistor is coupled to the controlterminal of the first transistor, the first terminal of the thirdtransistor is coupled to first terminal of the first transistor, and thesecond terminal of the third transistor is coupled to the first terminalof the second transistor.
 15. The circuit of claim 14, wherein the thirdtransistor is a native MOS transistor.
 16. The method of claim 12,further comprising coupling a voltage from the second terminal of thevoltage shift circuit to a control terminal of a pass transistor of aregulator to regulate an output voltage of the regulator at a secondterminal of the pass transistor.
 17. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising coupling a current proportional to a current from the secondterminal of the pass transistor to the first terminal voltage shiftcircuit, wherein the voltage at the second terminal of the voltage shiftcircuit decreases as the current from the second terminal of the passtransistor increases.
 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the inputsignal is from an error amplifier configured to compare an outputvoltage of the regulator to a reference voltage and output an errorvoltage as the input signal.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein: thevoltage between the first terminal of the voltage shift circuit and thesecond terminal of the voltage shift circuit increases as the currentthrough the voltage shift circuit increases, and the voltage between thefirst terminal of the voltage shift circuit and the second terminal ofthe voltage shift circuit decreases as the current through the voltageshift circuit decreases.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein: the firsttransistor comprises a MOS transistor having a gate, a source, and adrain, wherein the gate of the first transistor receives the inputsignal; the second transistor comprises a bipolar transistor having abase, an emitter, and a collector, wherein the base of the bipolartransistor is coupled to the drain of MOS transistor; and the firstterminal of the voltage shift circuit is coupled to the source of thefirst MOS transistor and the second terminal of the voltage shiftcircuit is coupled to the collector of the bipolar transistor.